Chapter Fifteen
I woke up early and took a shower. Not wanting to wake Devon, I settled into a dining room chair and read. When it was getting too close to the time to leave for work, I sent Logan a quick text to call off. He responded within seconds that he had already planned on it and hoped I had a hell of a hangover. I started to respond that I wasn’t hungover, but why? Let him think what he wanted.
My hair was dry by the time Devon woke up. His disorientation was cute as he glanced around my apartment. When his gaze settled on me, reality dawned on him. He sat up too quickly and grabbed his head.
“I’m still wearing my clothes,” he said with a groan. “That’s disappointing.”
I laughed, but I didn’t leave my seat at the small table in the dining area. Actually, calling it a dining area was generous. It was a table for two pushed against a wall.
Devon stretched his arms above his head, revealing the hint of a six pack as his black shirt rose from his waist. Too bad he had passed out. I closed my eyes and counted to ten before opening them again. When I did, Devon’s grin lit the room.
“What?” I asked.
“You were thinking about me.” His head bobbed as he spoke. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Nice shirt. Looks better on you than I remember,” he added.
“I’m rather fond of it,” I said. My tea cooled in a cup on the table. I picked it up, sipping it slowly. Devon watched as I savored my favorite Darjeeling with a hint of honey. It didn’t help my nerves. “Where’d you get it?”
“Played football in high school.” He shrugged as if it wasn’t anything unusual. “I played basketball, too, but I sucked at it. Baseball’s always been my game.”
“There’s a…there’s a towel and a spare toothbrush…in the bathroom.” Please, God, help me calm down. “If you…you know, want to get cleaned up?”
“You’re inviting me to stay?” His voice turned from sultry to shocked.
I shrugged, keeping my gaze on the mug between my fingers. Why was this so hard? I was acting like a fourteen-year-old in love with a fictional vampire. I lifted my mug, hoping another sip, or gulp, would calm me down. We kept circling each other, but every move was tentative, calculated. It was time to put up or shut up.
“Why?”
I swallowed hard, almost choking on too much tea. “I don’t know…I thought we could maybe talk?”
“About?” Devon was enjoying this. His playful tone was back.
I stirred up some courage and looked him right in the eyes. “Us.”
“Us, huh?” he shot back.
It was too much. His gaze too intense. I shrugged again and glanced away. The pattern on my placemats was more interesting than anything else in the world. The way the black material was woven through the bamboo. I counted the rows, waiting for Devon to make a move either out the front or to the bathroom. Or something—anything. The suspense was killing me.
The springs on my daybed squeaked. I almost sighed with relief, but my blood raced through my veins toward my heart, which now sounded like a herd of elephants. A door closed. I didn’t know if it was the front door or the bathroom door; I was so disoriented. Hyperventilation was a serious possibility.
Then the shower came on.
Step one was out of the way. Time for step two. If Devon was anything like my brothers, he wouldn’t stay in there too long. I stood and stepped into the kitchenette. My lone skillet already sat on one of the two burners. I pulled out the griddle for bacon and got to work on breakfast. The toaster oven baked four biscuits while I whipped up scrambled eggs and flipped enough bacon to feed the entire building. I wasn’t sure if he drank coffee or tea or just orange juice, so I set up the one-shot coffee machine Paige bought as an apartment warming gift—mainly because she loved coffee—and poured a glass of orange juice. I hurried to set the table, making sure it was presentable.
What was I doing?
I never did anything like this for Henry. But we’d also known each other since kindergarten. I didn’t know Devon. Why was I thinking there could be an us? I didn’t know anything about him. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. We’d talked, shared a little, and slowly opened up to one another. It just felt like I didn’t know him, because I didn’t know how he’d react to what I was about to propose.
His arms wrapped around my waist and he rested his chin on my shoulder. I froze, then relaxed against him. There wasn’t any reason to panic. I just hadn’t heard the shower turn off or Devon enter the room. My hands covered his as I leaned back. My ocean-scented body wash rolled off his skin, mixing with his natural sexiness.
“You didn’t have to do all this,” he said. “Pop-Tarts would’ve been fine.”
I smiled, my head tilting to the left as his breath sent shivers down my right side. “I’ll remember that for next time.”
“There’ll be a next time?” His lips brushed over my skin with the barest of touches. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard in a long time. Will there be a next-next time or is that pushing it?”
I pulled away from him. That was exactly what we needed to talk about. I pointed to a chair. “Please sit.”
Devon cocked a single eyebrow, but he sat down and reached for the orange juice. My hands shook as I sat across from him. I waited until he’d filled his plate. Apparently I hadn’t made enough bacon after all. We ate in silence for several minutes while I debated whether turning on music would’ve been a good or bad idea. By the time I’d come to a consensus, my eggs were cold and I hadn’t moved an inch.
“You never answered my question,” Devon said after he’d taken the last of the bacon. He crumbled the strips over his eggs, staring as each piece hit its mark. “Is this a one-shot breakfast?” His gaze shifted to meet mine. My knees buckled under the intensity. “Or will there be more?”
My throat had gone dry. I reached for my mug, my hands shaking worse than before and almost knocking over the salt grinder. Devon grabbed and steadied it before it tipped onto the table. I drained my sweetened tea, praying it would bring much-needed clarity. It only made it worse.
“Olivia? Are you okay?” he asked, genuine concern filling his voice.
I nodded. It was time to lay my cards on the table. “Do you want more?”
“I could go for more bacon,” he said as he popped a piece in his mouth.
“That’s not what I meant.” I swallowed hard and said it again. “Do you want more with me?”
“I think I’ve made that pretty clear,” he answered.
“Not really,” I said, finally looking at him again. His eyes scrunched in confusion, but that didn’t stop him from shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth. “You’ve been hot and cold.”
“Says the girl who ran out of my room,” he said before finishing the last of his orange juice.
“In my defense, I was freaked out.” I pulled my knee to my chest, resting my heel on the edge of the chair.
“Because you thought we’d had sex or because it was me?”
I didn’t break his stare as I answered with complete honesty. “Both.”
He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. I wished I knew what he was thinking. He stared across the room toward the window, although I doubted he was looking at anything. I wanted to take back the truth, but I was so sick of not being honest with him. We’d danced around each other for too long.
“I don’t…” I took a deep breath as he turned his gaze back to me. “After we…after freshman orientation, I promised myself I’d never do anything like that again. It wasn’t me. At least, I didn’t think so. I lost control, and I hated myself for it. Since my mom died, I’ve… God this is hard.” I glanced out the window and composed thoughts. Once I felt like I had them in a coherent order, I faced him again. “I’ve been focused on keeping order. You’re more chaos. It bothered me how much I liked it, too. And…” I let it hang there, skipping the other reason. “Then I woke up in your room, you of all people, and it scared the shit out of me.”
“If it had been anyone else, would you have reacted the same?”
It was a fair question. Would I have? I closed my eyes and tried to imagine that, but it was hard. I put a few familiar faces into the scenario. None of them had the same reaction. Then again, it wasn’t real. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“Why were you so determined to hate me?” Devon sat forward, settling his elbows on the table. He pushed his plate toward the wall.
“You know why,” I whispered. Henry was the last person I wanted to enter this conversation. Devon knew about him. He knew that I cheated on Henry when we’d been together. It was easier to hate Devon. It became a habit after Henry left.
“Are you still with him?” he asked.
My eyes widened. “No. Why would…?”
“I don’t know, Olivia. He’s not around campus, but that doesn’t mean you’re not doing the long-distance thing with him.” He rubbed his hand down his face. “Is he still in the picture?”
“He’s engaged to someone else and she’s pregnant,” I blurted in a desperate attempt to make it clear that Henry was not in my life anymore. “He’s not even in the frame.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Why do you completely ignore me at JenCar? Why do you act like—”
“What in the hell are you talking about? All I’ve ever done is flirt with you.”
My eyes widened. “You call that flirting?”
“Arguing with you is a fucking aphrodisiac.” Devon pushed to his feet and moved in front of me. He offered his hand. I slipped my fingers into his grasp and he pulled me against his chest. “You’re brilliant. You never take my shit. You’re so damn beautiful and don’t even know it.”
“I am?” My heart slammed against my ribs as if they were a prison and Devon was my freedom. His arms slipped around my waist. I pressed my palms against his chest. “Then why do you ignore me?”
He smirked. “Because if I don’t ignore you at work, I’ll do nothing but think about taking you into an empty office and making sure you remember every bit of what I’d do to you.” His head bent, his lips hovering over mine. “And I’d start like this.”
Devon kissed me and the world melted away. Nothing mattered but the way his lips moved, the way his tongue danced around mine, and the way we melded together. My hands slid up his chest, around his neck. I lifted to my tiptoes to get more of him. Devon’s hands tightened around my waist then slid under my shirt.
My skin burned where he touched me. I needed more. Then he broke away. Both of us breathed as if we’d finished a marathon in record time.
His eyes held a question, and I hoped like hell he could see the answer in mine. Our heads tilted to come together again, when there was a knock on my door.
“You expecting someone?” he whispered.
I shook my head as they pounded harder. Even though it was the last thing I wanted, I stepped out of Devon’s hot embrace and went to the door. With a quick clothing adjustment, I pulled it open, ready to give Paige a piece of my mind. Who else would knock on my door at nine on a Sunday morning?
It wasn’t Paige. My body chilled as I stared into the brown eyes I’d once thought loved me.
“Hello, Liv,” Henry said.